Balsa surfboards

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Balsa Fish.

Balsa Longboard.

Balsa MiniMal.

The history of balsawood as a material for surfboard making goes back to the Hawaiians but really hits of in the late 1930s. Being light and strong, balsa wood was long considered a perfect material for surfboards. However, shapers could not use this fragile wood to make entire surfboards until after WW2 when fiberglass was invented.

Bob Simmons, Dale Velzy, Joe Quigg and Matt Kivlin, from California, were some of the pioneers to trade heavy redwood for the lighter balsa wood to make their surfboards. Soon after, balsa surfboards were a common sight in California line-ups. The advantages of these new boards were obvious: They were a lot lighter, more buoyant and therefore easier to handle. These boards did have some disadvantages, however, because they were not as sturdy as the solid redwood. They could break much easier.

During this time surfers started using a skeg or a rudder which made it easier to maneuver the boards. In combination with the light balsa surfboards, this new approach led to a more radical style that came to be known as "Hotdogging".

After a drop in popularity due to the arrival of polyurethane surfboards, the retro movement has brought balsa surfboards back. Nowadays they are favoured by surfers and collectors because they are more durable than a regular surfboard, environmentally friendly and have a beautiful look.

Since 1993 the old guard of the surfing world including Yater, Velzy, Takayama, Jacobs, Becker and Ole through a partnership with Rhino Balsa, the largest balsa blank manufacturer, have brought back a part of their past arousing memories of an era when boards were made of wood and men were made of steel. Considered more art than a surfboard these are more often on display in the living room than in the garage.

For people interested in making their own balsawood surfboard many companies offer wood, blanks, complete shaping sets and even "how to make a balsa surfboard" DVD's [1].

Today, some of the most famous modern craftsmen of balsa surfboards include Mark Riley, Bill Eberwein, Balsa Bill Yerkes, Gary Linden and Skip Kozminski.